Worm geared band clip with screwdriver guide



Sept. 20, 1955 I c. w. CHENEY 2,713,045

WORM GEARED BAND CLIP WITH SCREWDRIVER GUIDE Filed Nov. 27, 1951Attorneys United States Patent WORM GEARED B AND CLIP WITH SCREWDRIVERGUIDE Charles William Cheney, Hockley, Birmingham, England ApplicationNovember 27, 1951, Serial N 0. 258,352

Claims priority, application Great Britain June 30, 1951 1 Claim. (Cl.24-274) The present invention relates to worm geared band clips fortightening hose connections and similar purposes, and more particularlyto worm geared band clips adapted to be tightened by means of ascrewdriver, a guide member being provided to retain the screwdriver inposition and to prevent it from sliding out of the screwdriver bladereceiving slot of the worm.

The invention is particularly applicable for use with worm geared bandclips such as those shown in my United States Patent No. 2,477,045granted on July 26, 1949, and in my three United States applicationsSerial Number 217,215, filed March 23, 1951; Serial Number 292,342;filed June 7, 1952; and Serial Number 292,343, filed June 7, 1952; whichthree applications have now issued as Patents Numbers 2,650,405,2,650,406 and 2,650,407, respectively, all dated September 1, 1953.

A clip of the kind aforesaid is used on pipes and tubes for manypurposes in positions where access is difiicult, the clip usually beingtightened for installation or loosened for removal by means of a handscrewdriver having a blade which is disposed in temporary engagementwith a screwdriver blade receiving slot in the worm head, and it is theexperience of users of such clips that engagement of screwdriver isdiflicult and side slips thereof occur frequently and often causeserious injury to the operator of the screwdriver.

The invention provides in a clip of the kind described a combination ofparts having as its essential features a screwdriver guide connectedrigidly to the neck washer for support and fitting loosely around thehead of the worm to close the open ends of the screwdriver bladereceiving slot formed therein, thereby to provide a guide for retaininga screwdriver blade in engagement with the slot and a means forpreventing any possible injury to the user from side slip of thescrewdriver blade out of the slot.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a worm-gearedband clip of this character having a screwdriver blade engaging slotformed in one end of the worm and a guide member for retaining the bladein the slot, the guide member comprising a portion which engages aportion of the worm of reduced diameter adjacent to the slotted end ofthe worm and another portion which completely encircles the slottedportion of the worm and closes the ends of the slot in all angularpositions of the worm.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent upon reading the following specification together with theaccompany drawing forming a part hereof.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side view in elevation of a worm-geared band clipembodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary end view of the clip shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Figure 4 is a side view of the worm forming a part of the clip shown inFig. 1.

Patented Sept. 20, 1955 Figure 5 is a left end view of the screwdriverguide member forming a part of the clip shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 6 is a side view in elevation of the guide member shown in Fig.5. I

Figure 7 is a right end view of the guide member shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

Figure 8 is an exploded view in side elevation of a modified form ofguide member.

Figure 9 is an exploded plan view of the guide mem ber shown in Fig. 8.

Figure 10 is an assembled view in side elevation of the guide membershown in Figs. 8 and 9, showing the guide member disposed on a fragmentof the tightening worm which includes the worm head, the remainder-ofthe worm and the band clip being omitted for simplicity of illustration.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 7, the band clipcomprises a circular band designated generally as 1 having a free end10, teeth 1b, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, being formed in the band1 ad jacent to the free end 1a flush with outer surface of the band 1.The other end of the band 1 is fixed to a tubular housing 2 in which aworm 3 is rotatably disposed, the threads 3a of the worm 3 meshing withthe teeth 1b of the band 1 and being arranged to draw the toothedportion of the band 1 through the tubular housing 2 for tightening theband about a hose or other device to be fastened.

Preferably the worm 3 is provided with a head 3b of circular crosssection and of the same diameter as the external diameter of the wormthreads to facilitate production of the worm from bar or rod stock. Theworm head 3b is provided with a screwdriver blade receiving slot 6formed in the end thereof and extending diametrically across the face ofthe worm head 3b, the slot 6 being open at both ends. Disposed betweenthe worm head 3b and the worm threads 3a is a neck portion 4 of reduceddiameter.

The screwdriver guide member comprises a neck washer portion 5, anapertured guide portion 7 and a base portion 10 integrally formed withand interconnecting the neck washer portion 5 and the guide portion 7.The neck washer portion 5 is shown in Fig. 5 in its open condition priorto assembly. After assembly of the open neck washer portion 5a on theneck 4 of the worm 3, the neck washer portion 5a is closed about theneck 4 as shown in solid lines at 5 in Fig. 5 and also shown in thesectional view of Fig. 3, the neck 4 being freely rotatable therein.

The tubular housing 2 is provided with lugs 13 and 14 (Fig. 2) spacedfrom its right hand end and which are bent laterally inwardly after theworm with the guide member secured thereto has been placed within thetubular housing 2. The lugs 13 and 14 are thus disposed between the neckwasher portion 5 and the guide portion 7 of the guide member so thataxial movement of the worm 3 within the housing 2 is limited on the onehand by engagement between the neck washer portion 5 and the right handend surface of the tubular housing 2 upon tightening the band clip andon the other hand by engagement between the neck washer portion 5 andthe lugs 13 and 14 when the band clip is loosened. The worm 3 is thusretained within the housing 2.

The circular aperture 7a of the guide portion 7 is dimensioned to fitfreely around the head 3b of the worm 3 and is axially positioned withrespect to the screw driver blade receiving slot 6 so that iteifectively closes both ends of the slot 6, thereby guiding ascrewdriver blade in engagement with the slot 6 and preventing it fromslipping sidewise out of the slot 6 in all positions of rotation of theworm 3.

In operation, the worm 3 is turned in a clock-wise direction as viewedin Fig. 2 to effect tightening of the clip. The helical thread 3a of theWorm engages a few of the teeth 1b formed in the outer surface of thetoothed portion of the band 1. As viewed in Fig 1, during tightening ofthe clip, the free end 1a of the circular band 1 is drawn toward theright, producing a force of reaction toward the left acting along loweredge of the helical thread of the Worm 3. This force of reactionproduces a turning moment tending to rotate or tilt the longitudinalaxis of the worm 3 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1. Sincethe left end of worm 3 cannot move upwardly, being restrained by thecrown of the tubular housing 2, the right end with the head 31) tends tomove downwardly or radially inwardly causing a corresponding movement ofthe guide member whose base portion 10 is pressed into frictionalengagement with the outer sur face of the toothed end portion of theband 1, interfering engagement with the teeth 1b being prevented by thefact that they are flush with the outer surface of the band.

In the modified embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 8 to 10, theguide member is formed in two parts comprising a neck washer member 15which is initially open at its top at 16 (Fig. 9) permitting it to beassembled about the neck portion 4 of the Worm 3. The neck washer member15 is provided with a flange 17 which is pressed into frictionalengagement with the outer surface of the toothed end portion of the band1 when the band clip is tightened, as described above. The guideaperture 18 is formed in an auxiliary member 19 which comprises ahorizontally extending lug portion 2t) having a notch 21 formed in itsfree end which permits it to be clamped or squeezed into permanentlyassembled engagement with upstanding lug portions 22 of the neck washermember 15 as shown in Fig. 10.

Having thus described my invention, what is claimed In a worm-gearedband clip of the class described, in combination with a helicallythreaded worm having a head of circular cross section with a screwdriverblade receiving slot formed therein, said slot being open at both endsand extending diametrically across the entire face of said head, and aneck portion of reduced diameter intermediate said head and the threadsof said worm, the provision of a guide member comprising a neck washerportion carried by said worm and engaging said worm neck portion, saidengagement permitting rotation of said worm therein, said guide membercomprising a circularly apertured guide portion, said head passingfreely through said aperture and being completely encircled by saidguide portion, said guide portion being fixed with respect to said neckwasher portion and spaced therefrom, said guide portion being axiallypositioned with respect to said worm head to substantially close theopen ends of said slot, whereby a screwdriver blade in engagement withsaid slot will be guided and prevented from slipping sidewise out of oneof its open ends in all positions of rotation of the worm, and a tubularhousing in which said worm is rotatably disposed, said housingcomprising an end surface engageable with one side of said neck washerportion and lugs spaced from said end surface and engageable with theother side of said neck washer portion whereby axial movement of saidworm in said housing is limited and said worm is retained therein.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 536,267Great Britain May 8, 1941

